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Junk foods are full of empty calories with little nutritional value. Junk food can contribute to obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

So why do we crave these foods and find them hard to resist?

There’s a staggering amount of science being utilised by junk food manufacturers in order to create food that is irresistible to all but the strongest willed. If we understand the science behind junk food, we may just be able to outsmart it and resist the urge to eat it.

Melt in the mouth foods: Many fast foods have been engineered to have ‘vanishing caloric density’. The less time food spends in the mouth before it is swallowed, the more rewarding the eating experience. This confuses the body into thinking fewer calories have been eaten as it spends very little time in the mouth and subconsciously encourages overeating. Examples of ‘melt in the mouth’ foods include; ice cream, cheese puffs and popcorn.

No specific taste or aroma: We are programmed to become tired or bored with food if we eat too much of one taste or aroma. To get around this, junk food is often manufactured to be either deliberately bland tasting, such as in vanilla ice cream or lightly salted crisps, or to contain a highly complex array of tastes and aromas that are not discernible and therefore confuse the brain. Eating these foods can override sensory burnout allowing us to eat more.

Sensory contrasts while eating: Our brain releases endorphins when we eat foods with new and exciting sensory contrasts in tastes, temperatures, textures and visual contrasts. Foods that are both sweet and salty, or crunchy and smooth are designed to give us a thrill and intensify the pleasure of eating them.

Food memories: The smells and tastes of certain foods are almost universally loved and induce cravings when we come across them. The smell of bacon is a prime example for many people. Food companies covertly use many of these smells and tastes within their offerings at once, often without you being able to consciously discern that they are there, thus promoting strong cravings.

Its packed with energy: Our brains are wired to prefer high calorie foods. This is a survival mechanism for when food is scarce, but it is detrimental to health in a society such as ours, where food is largely abundant and easily accessible. Fat is the most calorie dense of nutrients and our brains produce a pleasure response whenever we eat it. Fast food manufacturers look to create foods with close to 50% fat content. This fat content increases their desirability and activates pleasurable ‘reward’ pathways in the brain after eating.

They condition the brain towards addiction: After eating, the constituents of fast food go on to activate many of the same ‘reward’ and pleasure pathways in the brain as recreational drugs. This can create a preference for these foods and encourage addictive behaviour.

Encourage saliva production: We taste food better when there is enough saliva in the mouth to help liberate the flavour compounds and moisten the food ready to swallow. Junk food often contains added acids such as lactic or citric acid. These acids promote saliva production and enhances the taste.

Huge portions: Energy dense junk foods become even more desirable if given in larger than normal portions. If you have a large tub of popcorn or ice-cream in front of you, mindless eating is encouraged, and you will eat on average 34% more than you would with a more normal portion.

Casin: Fast foods often contain the milk protein casin. Casin is broken down during digestion into morphine like molecules called casomorphins that can make the food more addictive. These molecules inhibit the gut hormone enterostatin. Enterostatin functions to tell the brain when we have eaten enough fat. So foods with casin mean you can eat more before you feel full.

They have a high Glycemic Index (GI). High GI foods get broken down quickly by the body into simple sugars which are quickly utilised by the body for energy. This is far more rewarding for the brain than slow release, low GI foods, so the body is wired to crave these ‘instant gratification’ foods over far healthier alternatives.

Adding sugar into your diet can be detrimental to your health as it can contribute to the risk for diabetes.

To combat this risk, many people choose to drink beverages containing artificial sweeteners as a ‘healthy’ alternative to sugar, but beware, as these sweeteners often contain other hidden health risks.

Sweeteners – Sweeteners make you hungrier. In fact, many people who take sweeteners as part of a diet to lose weight, actually end up eating more food!

Some common sweeteners and their health risks:

Aspartame – Aspartame has been linked to high blood pressure (hypertension). It also blocks an enzyme in the gut called intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP). This enzyme helps prevent obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Acesulfame-K – Acesulfame-K has been shown to cause DNA damage.

Cyclamate – Cyclamate has been shown to cause reduced male fertility and may increase the risk for bladder cancer.

Saccharin – Saccharin can cause bladder cancer.

Sucralose – Sucralose is a laxative and can dehydrate you by causing water to be drawn from the body into the colon where it is excreted.

Gut bacteria – Many sweeteners have also been shown to negatively affect the balance of gut bacteria, leading to a more harmful phenotype that can decrease digestive efficiency and increase inflammation in the gut.

Sugar – The best advice with sugar is don’t try to replace it. Slowly wean yourself off it instead. If you get used to a diet that is less sweet in general, your taste buds will soon become accustomed to not needing sugar and you will find that you enjoy the full array of tastes in food again, not just sweet.

Best Sweeteners – If you choose to use a sweetener in your drinks the healthiest options are:

Many environmental factors can contribute to wrinkles and skin ageing. These can all be controlled to a certain extent, to maintain a more youthful skin profile. The main influencing environmental factors include; oxidative stress (mainly by sun damage), inflammation, ischaemia (reduced blood flow), smoking, pollution, sleep deprivation and poor nutrition.

Antioxidants and carotenoids are present in the foods we eat, and have been shown to reduce the effects of sun damage on the skin.

Carotenoids are derivatives of vitamin A, examples are β-carotene, astaxanthin, lycopene and retinol.

Antioxidants have been shown to reduce skin redness after sunburn by 40%. High antioxidant foods include; citrus, and berries.

Alcohol consumption reduces the presence of antioxidants in the skin, thus counteracting their protective effects.

Carotenoids are available in a wide range of foods; β-Carotene is contained in carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, mangos and papaya; Astaxanthin is found in microalgae, yeast, salmon, trout, krill, shrimp, crayfish and crustacea; Good sources of lycopene are tomatoes (cooked is better) and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons and papayas; Retinol and its constituents must be consumed in the diet as they cannot be synthesised by the body. Retinol is present in foods such as; Fish oils and fatty fish, dairy, and liver.

For vegans, nutritional constituents found in spinach, kale, squash and carrots can be readily converted into retinol by the body, but fats such as avocado or olive oils should be consumed at the same time to increase absorption.

Prunes, apples and tea are particularly effective at reducing oxidative damage to the skin by sun exposure. Just a few months of increased green tea intake have been shown to reduce skin roughness by 16%. Eating a moderate amount of carotenoid rich foods can even cause a protective carotenoid build up in the skin, giving you a golden glow similar to tanning in the sun.

Vitamin D3 can reduce the harmful effects of the sun on the skin. It decreases with age and we can lose up to 50% between the ages of 20 and 80, taking vitamin D3 supplements can be beneficial for skin health as we age.

Polyphenols such as contained in green tea, turmeric, resveritrol in grape skins, sylimarin from milk thistle, coffee, legumes, cereals and chocolate. Can all help to modulate the action of cell signals involved with the ageing process. Reducing the action of these cellular pathways can help to decelerate the ageing process, particularly in the skin.

Coenzyme Q10 or Ubiquinol is an important mediator of energy production in the body, it also decreases oxidative damage in the skin. Dietary sources of CoQ10 include oily fish (such as salmon, mackerel and tuna), organ meats (such as liver), and whole grains.

Optimising the bacterial makeup in the gut can have positive effect on the bacterial make-up of the skin. Taking probiotics can help to positively adjust your bacterial makeup and reduce the chance of developing rashes and allergic reactions in the skin.

Collagen is one of the main constituents of the skin and a destabilisation of the collagen structure can contribute to wrinkle formation, Vitamins C and E have been shown to increase collagen stability and protect from sun damage.

One of the keys to managing one’s weight, is controlling how much we eat. If your daily intake of calories is greater than your daily expenditure of calories through exercise and general movement, then any excess calories will be stored as fat.

Over eating can be difficult to control, but there are generally three overeating categories that people can fall into. Each category requires a slightly different strategy to overcome.

Eating more than is necessary at mealtimes.

Many people do not produce enough of a hormone in the stomach that indicates to the brain that it is full.

A low Glycaemic Index diet can fill you up more quickly and encourages production of these hormones. Choose sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, brown rice instead of white rice and brown wholemeal bread instead of white bread. Also try and reduce the consumption of carbohydrates such as pasta and heavily processed foods.

Using smaller plates to control portion sizes is also advisable. Also waiting 20 minutes after eating before having seconds, will give your brain a chance to receive signals from the stomach indicating that you are full.

2. Cravings.

Some people feel as if they are constantly hungry between mealtime,s leading to frequent snacking and consumption of excess food. For these people, the 5:2 calorie restricted diet has been found to be very successful.

For 5 days a week, you can eat as much as you like, even between mealtimes, but preferably on healthy snack options such as; nuts, seeds, carrots or berries.

For the other 2 days, you should eat a set number of calories throughout the day: 600kcal for men and 500kcal for women and stick to it.

Many people find it is a lot easier to stick with a diet, when its only 2 days a week!

3. Stress eating.

It is not uncommon to eat more when emotional, depressed, tired or stressed and to then gain weight as a result.

If you are a ‘stress eater’, try and identify the triggers that turn your mind to food when you are stressed, and find ways to re-align those thought processes.

It is often a good idea to find and implement an alternative stress-relieving activity when you think about indulging in food, such as meditation, exercising or having a hot bath.

High levels of ‘bad’ LDL and VLDL cholesterol in the blood can contribute to increased risk of many diseases including; diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular problems, liver disease, kidney disease, and cognitive decline.

Fibre and plant phytosterols are key to lowering cholesterol, as they prevent excess cholesterol from entering the body in the digestive tract. Adding fibre in the diet encourages the surplus cholesterol to more easily pass through into the colon, where it is excreted.

The highest dietary sources of phytosterols are nuts and seeds, particularly sesame and pistachio. Just one serving of brazil nuts per month, has been shown to provide long-term cholesterol lowering effects.

Amla powder (Indian gooseberry) and dried apples have also been found to be very effective at lowering ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood, whilst at the same time increasing the levels of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL).

Key foods to try and avoid if you are worried about your cholesterol are; eggs, meat, dairy and processed foods.

Migraine headaches can be extremely debilitating for sufferers. However, there are various diet and lifestyle interventions that can limit or prevent attacks.

Magnesium – Many migraine sufferers are magnesium deficient and 600mg/day of magnesium supplementation (magnesium glycinate is the best source), can act as a prophylactic for attacks when taken over a period of 3-4 months.

Nuts, grains and seeds, as well as green leafy vegetables such as kale are particularly high in magnesium also.

Epsom Baths – Magnesium is best absorbed through the skin. We recommend taking Epsom salt baths or magnesium skin sprays may also be effective.

Treatment – Treatment for an acute migraine headache may be as simple as smelling the scent of lavender. The inhalation of lavender essential oil has been found to alleviate the symptoms in 75% of migraine attacks. This is significantly more effective than the majority of drugs available on the market today.

Muscle is one of the most metabolically active tissues in the body. In general, the more muscle you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate (i.e. how much energy your body burns each day when you are at rest).

Lifting weights or resistance exercise at the gym is one the most effective ways to boost metabolism as your muscle mass increases.

Brown Fat – Another highly metabolically active tissue in the body is brown fat. Brown fat increases your metabolism by causing thermogenesis (heat production) in response to cold or various foods. The more brown fat you have, the more of your daily energy is used for heat production.

Certain foods can stimulate the body to accumulate brown fat, these include spicy foods such as capsaicin or chilli, and arginine rich foods including; Soy (such as edamame), nuts, seeds and beans.

Exposure to cold can also increase brown fat production, so taking a cold shower, or going from a sauna into a cold swimming pool or the sea can also increase metabolism.

Raising your metabolism means a greater daily intake of calories is needed to support your body’s energetic needs. Any daily calorie deficit will be made up by the body through the utilisation of fat and glucose stores.